During the course of failure analysis or quality inspection and evaluation of microelectronic parts (ICs), a distinct need to measure metallization or oxide thickness is required to evaluate the processing of chips and to perform failure analysis. A well known, prior art technique proposed for this purpose makes use of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) in conjunction with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDXA) technique. This latter technique, commonly known as the Yakowitz-Newbury method, has unfortunately proved too time consuming in practice, it requires high accelerating voltage and consistently estimates the thickness of films at a higher value than the actual value. The inaccuracy of the Yakowitz-Newbury method is, in part, attributed to the relatively large thickness of the integrated circuit films, e.g., approximately 1 micron for aluminum films and 0.5 to 0.8 microns for silicon diode/silicon nitride. Moreover, the high accelerating voltage required by this prior art technique often results in damage to the integrated circuit(s).